Mary Poppins in the Park by P.L. Travers

I'm continuing to read through the Mary Poppins series, and continuing to love them!  Mary Poppins in the Park has a slightly different layout and tone to it, but it's not a bad change.  (You can read reviews of the first three books, Mary Poppins, Mary Poppins Comes Back, and Mary Poppins Opens the Door, here.)

In the previous books, each chapter had a predictable pattern:  one of the Banks children would encounter a moral decision and then they would all go on a magical adventure with Mary Poppins.  The child would learn a moral, and Mary Poppins would deny that any magic had taken place.  In Mary Poppins in the Park, the morals are either more deeply veiled or not present at all.  The Banks children and Mary Poppins go on a couple of magical adventures just for fun!  From the park across from their house, they meet the Goose Girl and Swineherd, meet talking cats, meet tiny people (like seriously tiny, a few centimeters tall), meet princes from a story book, and attend a party of shadows on Halloween.  Another difference between this book and the previous three:  Mary doesn't make a grand entrance nor a grand departure.  When the book opens, she is already in the park with the Banks children, as though she'd never left.  (And all of the adventures start and stop in the park, hence the title.)

While Mary is still rather abrupt in her manner of speaking to others, she seems a bit softer yet in this book during the magical moments.  At the Halloween party they even catch her dancing!  Readers of previous books will also delight in seeing cameos from favorite characters in this book, such as Nelius and the bird woman.  And I won't spoil it for you, but you do get a glimpse of where Mary might just go whenever she leaves the Banks' for a season!

I listened to Mary Poppins in the Park.  Fantastic narration by Rosalyn Landor.  She sounds just like I would imagine the literary Mary Poppins to sound!  (We have already discussed how the literary Mary Poppins is not much like the Julie Andrews Mary Poppins.)  The recording has well moderated volume (I never had to turn it up or down in the middle of a story) and Ms. Landor has a very comfortable cadence.  I give it two thumbs up!

This series continues to be one I would recommend to old and young alike... even better, for old to share aloud with young!  :)

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by Tynga at Thursday, August 04, 2016

 Fantasy amp; Magic, Fiction, historic, HMH Publishers, Library, Mary Poppins, P.L. Travers, Review, young adult  Leave your mark

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Mary Poppins Opens the Door by P.L. Travers

Mary Poppins Opens the Door is the third book in the Mary Poppins series; click here to read my reviews of Mary Poppins and Mary Poppins Comes Back.

This is another wonderful addition to the Mary Poppins series!  In fact, I'd venture to say that this one might be one of the better ones.  Mary Poppins is a bit more Disney-esque in this one than she was in the previous two: a little softer and nicer.  I truly enjoyed all the magical stories as well.

The book opens with Mary Poppins' arrival on Guy Fawkes Day, while the Banks children are in the park setting off fireworks in celebration.  I had to remind myself that this book was written in 1943- in the opening chapter Mrs. Banks sends the children to the park in the care of the chimney sweep that she just met that afternoon.  Nowadays parents are reluctant to let their children be in the care of anyone other than close family!  They'd never let their kids go to the park with the neighborhood chimney sweep!  (Nor should they, of course.)  There's another part a little later on in another story where there's a comment made that would today be considered mildly racist.  We'll chalk that up to the 1943 publication date as well.

In between the spectacular arrival of Mary Poppins and her magical departure, the children meet a man with seven wishes to share, the cat who looked at a king, Neleus (a park statue who comes to life to read comics), Miss Calico (who sells magical flying candy canes), mermaids and talking sea creatures, and fairy tale characters come to life.  Mary Poppins continues to play a part in all these adventures, and to deny their happenings after the fact.  But while in the moment, Mary seems much more fun.  When Neleus comes to life, it is heavily hinted that it is by Mary's doing, and she grants him extra time when he and the children beg her for it.  She also lets herself have fun at the undersea party, dancing and chatting with all the sea creatures.

Maybe it was because Mary seemed kinder and gentler in this volume, or maybe it was because I knew and loved the characters even more after spending three books with them, but I was actually sad to see this one end.  Like the first two, this one read almost like a series of vignettes, and could possibly be picked up and read out of the order of the other books in the series.  I would recommend starting with Mary Poppins, though, if you want the most complete enjoyment.

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by Tynga at Thursday, July 28, 2016

 Fantasy amp; Magic, Fiction, HMH Publishers, Library, Mary Poppins, P.L. Travers, Review, young adult  Leave your mark

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Mary Poppins Comes Back by P.L. Travers

Most people are pretty familiar with the Disney version of Mary Poppins.  But not everyone knows that Mary Poppins is the first in a whole series of books, and that the tone of the books is quite different from the Disney version of events.  I highly recommend you consider checking out these slightly grittier books.

Mary Poppins Comes Back is the second book in the series.  If you've seen  the Disney movie, you could easily pick up this book and start from here; if you know nothing about Mary Poppins, I'd recommend starting with Mary Poppins.

So in the books, Mary is rather stern with the Banks children, but it works.  She's also a bit uptight, domineering, short, and bossy.  She even tells Mr. and Mrs. Banks what to do sometimes!  She sets her own schedule, coming and going out of their employment at her will, not theirs.  When she puts the kids to bed, she simply tells them to go to bed and then leaves the room.  No sentimental storytime or good nights.  In the movie, she cheerily sings "Spoonful of Sugar" and magically makes castor oil taste delicious; in the book she makes the kids take the med without changing the taste or singing a song.

However, the magic is definitely still there, and that's what makes these books so excellent.  No matter what is happening on Cherry Tree Lane, Mary Poppins and her magic can distract and/or make things better.  This series of books is almost written like a series of vignettes; the chapters can easily be read one at a time, as there's no cliffhanger endings.  In each one, one or more the Banks children is facing a conflict and in each one something magical happens.  Also at the end of each chapter:  Mary totally denying that anything unusual happened.  For example, in one story Jane Banks wakes up having a bad day.  (Yes, a very minor conflict, but a conflict in the life of a child still.)  She ends up magically shrinking down and "entering" the world depicted on the side of a fancy porcelain bowl on the mantelpiece, where she meets three young boys.  When things don't go as well as hoped for, and Mary has to rescue her, she comes home in a much better mood and much more appreciative of the life she does have.  Mary, as usual, tells Jane that she imagined the whole thing.  Yet, Mary's scarf is clearly visible in the picture on the bowl after the whole escapade!

The magic continues throughout the book... the children meet Mr. Turvy and his wife, Mrs. Topsy.  They also go bouncing through the park, buoyed by big colorful balloons.  And finally, they also learn the story of the King of the Castle and the Dirty Rascal, and learn that Mary may have been involved, of course.

If you find yourself needing a magically surprising escape, like the Banks children sometimes do, check out the Mary Poppins series!

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by Tynga at Thursday, May 12, 2016

 Fantasy amp; Magic, HMH Publishers, Library, Magic, Mary Poppins, P.L. Travers, Review, young adult  1 Person left their mark

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